Safety hook



L.E.VVELL5 SAFETY HOOK Nov. l, 1932.

Filed Feb. l, 1932 LEW@S BY QM@ .um

Patented Nev. 1, 1932 UN-I'Tgsn sT ATE-s LOREN E. WELLS, OFMODESTO,CALIFORNIA Asiirn'riz rroox Application Jled February 1, 1932. SerialNo. '590,036.

-s completed'the grip is disengaged andlow-v ered .to-the ground .withthe tackle by Ymeans of va separate line attached to `.the grip ortackle hook. As-the parts are at present constructed .there is nothingto prevent the dismgagement of the hook whentheequipment is being thuslowered, and one orthe other of the units are apt to come apart fromthesupporting line and drop to the ground, with M grave danger .of physicalharm to Athe men 2G standing on the ground below.

The principal object of my invention thereforeis to eliminate thedangerous-and objectionable features incidentfto the usefof 'theordinary type of hook on such equipment by providinga safety hookadapted to takevthe place of the ordinaryblock hook and 'so constructedthat while it is'easily associated with and removed from the link whendesired, it 77S cannot be so disengaged or removed by vibra- 'lionsandjolting or jarring, kor with'any position which it may assumerelative to the grip link whenthe grip issubjectto the action of gravityand is hanging down on the "T- hook. Hooks made according to myinvention havebeen tried outrin actual practice and given severe testsunder'alll 'possible conditions. From observations I can therefore lTuitruly state that .it is Ypractically impossible forthe hook and linkto become disengaged fromeach other under any working-conditions whichVmay obtain, unless itis vinten- Mlntionally desired to separate them. Afurther object of the invention'isto-produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet i one which will be exceedingly-effective `for thepurposefor which it is designed.

Theseobjects I accomplish by means 5of 5o auch structure and relativearrangement of grip link necessary 'to disengage the same parts-as willfully` appear by a perusal of the following specification and claims.

In the drawing similar characters'of reference .indicate correspondingparts in the several vie-ws A Fig. l ris a longitudinal view of the hookshown in connection withagrip and abloc'k and tackle arranged Iin,outstretched .zpullin'g relation.

F ig. 2 is -a .perspective of the hook show-v ing the samesuspendedvfrom a lowering line and with the grip vdepending therefrom :in oneposition.

LFig. 3 is a similar viewshowing-Ithe grip in another position. 6L;

F ig. all is a'transverse section fof the hook as on .the line44 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 yisa Vlongitudinal viewxof vthe hook showing the initial :raising.movement ofthe fromv the hook.

:'Figq'isxasirnilfar =view showing the final' movement or adjustment ofthe'link necessary in :removingthe same.

Referringtnow more particularly 'to vthe characters of reference on thedrawing, the numeral .l denotes a standard form of comealong or wireclamping tool having a link 2 projecting from `one end and adapted forconne'ctionitoafblock and rtackle 3. My safety hook which is permanentlyconnected to thefeye 4 ofthe tackle block in place ofthe usual :hookisconstructed as follows:

Saidfhook comprises first an eye 5 initially engaged .with the eye 4 andthen permanently closed. .Beyondfthe eye the hook is formed with asubstantially semi-circular bend forming an arclr disposed in a planelengthwise of the hook but at right angles to theplane of the eye 5, andcur-ved on a radius somewhat less 'than Athat of the bend of the linkA2, as shown in Fig. 5. Beyond the'bend the hook is formed with anothereye 7 also flying in a plane lengthwise ofthe hook and at right anglesvtothe plane of the eye 5, and symmetrically disposed relative thereto.The eye 7 is normally-engaged by the link when the coinevalong` andblockandtac-kle are disposed in `.pulling relation toeach other-and to thehook. n The eye 7 is not closed, however, and 103 its side opposite tothat continuing from the bend 6 (which forms a connection between oneside of the eye 7 and one side of the eye passes behind said bend inclearance relat tion thereto a distance greater than the diameter of thelink metal and forming a depending extension 8. At its lower or outerend the extension is bent at right angles to pass under the arch (iY asshown at 9 and is then bent up and over in the direction of saidextension to form, with the portion 9, a hook 10 facing said extension.Y

This hook 10 lies in a transverse plane Ysubstantially at right Yanglesto the plane of the eye 7, and its outer end is spaced from theextension a distance greater than the diameter of the link metal. Alsothe top of the hook 10 is symmetrically disposed relative to the axis ofthe arch 6 and the adjacent edges of said arch and hook are spaced fromeach other a distance somewhat greater than the thickness of the'linkmetal as shown in Fig.- 6, The hook 10 when in actual use only ,j andnever takes any pulling strain. '4 metal of the main hook therefore maybe has to support the weight of the come-along The gradually diminishedin diameter where the eye 7 merges into the extension 8, so that thehook 10 is of relatively small diameter. is also necessary in enablingthe link to be removed, as will be hereinafter seen.

In operation, as long as the wire is being pulled the link is properlyengaged with the eye 7 at its outer end. When it is desired to lowerVthe come-along and tackle Yto the ground as a unit a lowering line 11 isconnected to the eye 7, as shown in Fi 2; the cerne-along being thendisengaged rom the wire so-aato hang straight down. If the hook isinitially disposed so that the auxiliary hook l0 is under the arch, asshown in Fig. 1, the link when depending then abuts against the portion9 of said hook 10, as shown in Fig. 2. This portion YVis wide enough tobear against both sides of the link and obviously f no swaying of thelink and toolY relative to opportunity with the swaying of the equipmentto work down until it enters and is supgorted by the auxiliary hook 10,as shown in 1g. 3 The link will not then be detached hyfany joltingforswaying movement of the g-f'rqulpment, since in order to disengage thelink from the hook it must first be disposed so as to extendlengthwisein a plane substantially parallel to the plane of the hook 1.0, raisedso as to clear the upper-portion of said hook, and be then turnedsideways so that its actual Width is less than the diameter of the arch,as shown in F ig. 6. The link can then be withdrawn by a horizontalmovement outwardly of the hook 10 or away from the extension 8. l

While the above operation is easy enough to perform when the link andhook are being definitely and intentionally manipulated, it is obviouslyutterly impossible for the link to assume of itself the necessaryremoving position relative to the hook I0, when said link is dependingfrom this hook and is being constantly pulled down by the action ofgravity; The relative thinness of the hook 10 is necessary to enable thelink to be turned sideways without changing the link from its standardand somewhat narrowy form and without making the arch unduly large, aswould be necessary for it'Y to conform to the wider form of link if suchwere used. Atfthe same time however, it will be obvious that if thesafety hook is to be used with other tools having links of differentrelative size, the arch and hook 10 would be changed in their dimensionsif necessary so as to properly conform to those of the particular linkused.

While I have here shown and described the eyes 4 and 7 as being disposedin planes at right angles to each other, such an arrangement is notactually essential, and the eyes may lie in a common plane if desiredVor found more suitable in certain kinds of service.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and-preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail maybe resorted to as do not form a departure from the spiritofthe invention, as defined bythe appended claims.

Having thus described my inventionrwhat I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

'1. A safety hook comprising a closed eye adapted for permanentengagement with a block eye, another eye beyond the first eye forengagement with a link at its bend, a conneetion between and rigid withone side of the eyes, means formed with the second eye to enable theeye-engaging bend of the link to be moved about the latter and to assumea position below the connection without being disengaged from the hook,and means formed with said last named means andY with the connection topermit of the removal of the link from its last named position on thehook only if first raised and turned sideways a predetermined amount.

2. A safety hook comprising a closed eye adapted for permanentengagement with a block eye, another eye beyond the first eye forengagement with a. link at its bend, a connection between and rigid withone side of the eyes, a relatively small hook below and eX- tending inaplane substantially at right angles to the longitudinal plane of theconnection and transversely thereof, and an eXtension from the secondnamed eye on the side opposite to the .connection to the lower end ofthe hook; said extension being spaced from the connection and from theupper end of the hook a distance greater than the thickness of a leg ofthe link and the upper end of the hook being similarly spaced from theconnection.

3. A structure as in claim 2, in which the connection is curved aboutthe upper portion of the hook on an axis disposed in the vertical planeof the hook on e radius smaller than that of the bend of the link.

In testimony whereof I affix iny signature.

LOREN E. VELLS. Y

